Parabrahm organ
The Parabrahm organ is a type of organ developed in the late Romantic period . The word “ parabrahm ” comes from Sanskrit and can be translated as “highest artistic and spiritual perfection”.
The Parabrahm organ was a joint project by organ builder Friedrich Weigle (son) and the harmonium company J & P Schiedmayer . In contrast to a common pipe organ, the Parabrahm organ has a high-pressure register and an additional integrated harmonium , the pitch of which can be influenced by the player by changing the wind pressure (expression). In addition, one or more swell boxes are built into the organ. Both instruments can be played together or individually. The combination of the two works increases the organ's dynamic possibilities. Due to an acoustic illusion, the combination of the inherently static tone strength of the organ with the dynamic tone strength of the harmonium gives the listener the impression that the organ sound would be louder or quieter. With a Parabrahm organ, the tone intensity can be reduced to piano by using the rocker panels and the acoustic illusion that occurs, so that the tone can only be guessed at.
In this way, the late romantic organ building was able to come even closer to its goal of harmonizing the sound between the organ and the orchestra and an adjustable dynamic while maintaining the timbre. In particular, works for organ and orchestra can be performed well, as the problem of the different dynamic flexibility of the two sound bodies is largely eliminated by the construction principle of the Parabrahm organ. After 1920 this type of organ quickly fell into disrepute in the course of the organ movement .
The only surviving instrument of this type that is now under monument protection is the organ of the Protestant church in Eichwalde near Berlin. There were only two other Parabrahm organs in Germany: In the Martin Luther Church in Berlin-Neukölln (built in 1909, destroyed by bombing in 1944) and in the Liebfrauenkirche in Liegnitz in Silesia (today Poland; built in 1914, the third "Parabrahm manual", from which the harmonium could be played, was probably expanded again in 1928 in favor of a "baroque manual").
literature
- Prof. Dr. Christian Ahrens in: Travel report on the organ study trip 2005 , Association for Research and Conservation of Silesian Organs, accessed on June 12, 2006 (PDF file; 218 kB)